Continental divide : a history of American mountaineering / Maurice Isserman.

Book

Isserman, Maurice, author.

First edition.

New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2016]

©2016

©2016

x, 436 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

In Continental Divide, Maurice Isserman tells the history of American mountaineering through four centuries of landmark climbs and first ascents. Mountains were originally seen as obstacles to civilization; over time they came to be viewed as places of redemption and renewal. The White Mountains stirred the transcendentalists; the Rockies and Sierras pulled explorers westward toward Manifest Destiny; Yosemite inspired the early environmental conservationists. Isserman traces the evolving social, cultural, and political roles mountains played in shaping the country. He describes how American mountaineers forged a "brotherhood of the rope," modeled on America's unique democratic self-image that characterized climbing in the years leading up to and immediately following World War II. And he underscores the impact of the postwar "rucksack revolution," including the advances in technique and style made by pioneering "dirtbag" rock climbers.

Mountaineering -- United States -- History.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [345]-418) and index.

Pioneers, 1642-1842 -- Hardy mountain plants, 1842-1865 -- Good tidings, strenuous life, 1865-1903 -- Brotherhood of the rope, 1900-1946 : part I -- Brotherhood of the rope, 1900-1946 : part II -- Rucksack revolution, 1945-1963 -- Epilogue: 1964-2015.

2016000548

9780393068504 hardcover

0393068501 hardcover

909974326

3430027

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